Death of a Mentor
by Alice Crow
Summary: Tony Stark was dead, killed at the hands of his former teammate. Peter Parker and Harley Keener were now left alone with no-one but themselves to help them navigate the murky waters of not only being a superhero but also of having full control of Stark Industries.
1. Chapter 1

When Peter Parker heard the news he could almost swear that his heart stopped. He had been sitting on the couch, surfing through channels. It was an accident when he got on a news anchor. It felt like the entire world slowed down as the words kept repeating in his mind.

"Tony Stark, the Iron Man is dead. We have reason to believe that it was the doing of the war criminals Steve Rogers, once known as Captain America and James Barnes the Winter Soldier."

It had taken a full minute for the words to be properly understood. He sat up suddenly. No, no it couldn't be, right? They would have told him right? They would never let him find out from a news anchor. He and Mr. Stark had gotten close since Germany.

At first it had simply been an excuse for when he was patrolling as Spider-Man, but eventually, he had decided fuck it and had just walked right into the tower like he owned the place. FRIDAY hadn't stopped him and so no one really gave him any trouble. He remembered going right into the elevator and asking to be taken where Mr. Stark was. FRIDAY for some reason that he still didn't fully understand had done as asked. Mr. Stark had almost had a heart attack when he saw him. He had stared in shock as Peter simply sat at a table and took out his homework.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Tony asked, feeling genuinely confused.

"My homework," Peter said like a smug little shit.

"Yeah I can see that, but why are you doing it here. Actually, how did you even get in?"

"I walked, as for why I'm here?" Peter shrugged a bit, suddenly feeling the nervousness that he had been pushing down till now "I'm your intern" Tony stared at him for a moment before he let out a tiny chuckle. Peter didn't know it but Tony had felt so fucking lonely. His friends had betrayed him, Pepper and him broke up again, and Rhodey was now paralyzed. It all mashed together to make a very guilty, depressed, lonely Tony Stark. At that moment what he needed was someone to just be there, and maybe it was fucked up to use the kid like this but god he just wanted to be selfish.

"Come here kid, let's use that big brain of yours"

And ever since he had gone in three times a week. Peter learned things about Tony that he had never thought he would. He learned to hate Captain America and the ex avengers for their betrayal, he lost any respect he had for Virginia Potts for abandoning his mentor in his time of need, he grew grateful to Harley Keener for his loyalty to Tony, though he never met him. He knew better than to say any of these things though because he knew Tony would try and justify the ex avengers and Pepper's actions. As for not telling him about Harley? Well, he knew that Mr. Stark would try to get them to meet, and while Peter would love that he knew that there was a chance that they wouldn't get along. Peter knew that he couldn't allow that to happen, especially since it would break Mr. Stark. He knew that in a strange way Tony loved him and the Harley kid like they were his sons.

What Peter didn't know though was that just three weeks after he had walked into Stark Tower with fake confidence and a smirk that made even Tony proud, his much beloved Mr. Stark had changed his will. Before everything had gone to Pepper with an exception to some possessions going to Happy and Rhodey. Now though? Everything was to be left to Peter Parker and Harley Keener. Tony knew that he wasn't the typical loving family man, the fact of the matter was that he was fucking emotionally constipated in many aspects. But one thing he knew for sure was that he loved those two boys with all his fucking heart. He often wondered how his father was able to keep his distance because he knew that he never could. All of this aside made it pretty ironic that not even a week later in Siberia, Tony Stark died.

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ARTHUR'S NOTE

I know that the time line is skewed but I kind of needed it to be for the story to work and make sense. This story is set during Civil War, before Infinity War and End Game.


	2. Chapter 2

All the noise around him sounded like static. It was all background noise compared to the numb that wrecked his mind. His feet started moving towards the Tower even before he was consciously aware of what he was doing. Traffic, talking, and the calls of birds were all his grounding force as the numb that had overtaken his body slowly grew hot with rage. What was once a walk quickly turned into a run. It felt like every second that was spent away from Mr. Stark was a second too long.

By the time he was at the Tower he was practically seething. It was then as he made his way to Tony's floor that he heard something.

"What do you mean I haven't been left the company. I have read that will cover to cover and it clearly states that in the case of him being dead or incapacitated Stark Industries is to go to me" said the familiar voice of one Pepper Potts. Peter's face folds a deep grimace at the thought of talking to her.

"That may have been true a month ago but it's no longer the case," said a male voice. Peter stops only a foot away from the door that separated him from the conversation.

"Who owns the company now?" 'it's probably gonna go to Rhodey or something.' Peter thinks uncertainty. 'Gosh, you think she'd be more grief-stricken at the death of not only one of her best friends but also someone who she had been deeply in love with. Yes they had broken up but that didn't just erase the years that they had known and been together.' is the thought process of a now very angry Peter Parker.

"Everything that Tony Stark owns is to be divided between Peter Parker and Harley Keener" Peter freezes, surprise making a very dramatic entrance into his mind overthrowing the previous numb and anger to sit on its new throne as the emotion that Peter was being overcome by.

"Your joking right?" Pepper asks, unknowingly voicing Peter's own thought.

"He barely knew the two brats, not only that but both of them are underage and literally have no experience with running a company" Peter could agree with almost all of those points and he could even understand her frustration to some point if he really tried. But something he could not understand nor forgive was the way she tried to cheapen the bond he and Harley had with Mr. Stark. Also, calling them brats is very much uncalled for.

"I'm sorry Ms. Potts but there is nothing we can do. Tony Stark was very specific in his will"

"Surely there's some way to keep everything on the down low, like faking a new will" Peter mentally added Pepper onto an ever-growing list of people that he was very tempted to kill, status as Spiderman be damned.

Peter takes a deep breath and tries to calm himself so as to not make an impulsive decision. Right now he had two options, he could dramatically burst into the room and throw them completely off guard, but lose any advantage he had. Thus causing more harm in the long run. Or he could leave, carefully think through any decisions he was going to make and then plan his attack. As he turned his back and walked back into the elevator an idea entered his head. It was stupid, reckless and maybe even a little immoral, but at least he knew he would have fun getting back at everyone who had ever wronged Mr. Stark. All he needed to do was make a tiny little phone call to someone who would hopefully become his new partner in crime.

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Two days after asking Karen to track down the number of one Harley Keener from Tennessee Peter now holds his thumb right above the call button. 'Come on Parker, you know there's no way you're gonna back down from this, stop being a pussy and plunge headfirst into this like you do almost everything else' he took a deep breath before hitting call.

"Hello?" the voice on the other end asked. Peter took a moment to collect his thoughts and made in effect to calm himself. After all, everything depended on how this phone call would go.

"Hi, this is Peter Parker, is this Harley Keener?" Peter hopes that his voice didn't shake. A loud screech of metal hitting metal is heard through the phone

"Shit, sorry. Yeah, this is Harley, how can I help you?"

"I don't know If you've heard or not, but Mr. Stark is dead. He, uh-he left us everything. See, I'm his personal intern and when I found out that he was dead I couldn't believe it so of course, I went to the tower. I heard Ms. Potts talking and found out the news about our new inheritance from eavesdropping. I-I don't know if Mr. Stark told you about me but he's told me a lot about you." there's silence on the other end.

"I can try to prove it if you don't believe me, which you probably don't seeing as you don't know me. God, you must think this is a prank or something." Peter's aware that he's rambling now but he couldn't stop if he tried.

"And thoughts not even all of it, I'm pretty sure Pepper is gonna try to make a fake will where she's left in charge of the company and I don't know about you but the last thing I am willing to do is to allow that woman to take away Tony's legacy. So please I am really desperate and I know I can't do this without you because we were both left in charge" by now he's in full blown panic, words are spilling out of his mouth like an overflowing sink and he doesn't even think he could stop them if he tried.

Silence is all that greets him on the other side of the phone. It's stressful and only serves to worsen Peter's panic. His thought all rush to the forefront of his mind, each one becoming more and more unpleasant.

"I'm gonna need some proof first off," Harley says, unknowingly interrupting Peter's slowly spiraling thoughts.

"Yes, of course, I'll call you in a few days when I have something that will convince you of me not lying" Peter hangs up the phone and just sat for a moment. He closes his eyes before smiling as an idea strikes him. He picks up his phone again.

"Hey, Ned? I need a favor"


End file.
